7.25.2011

The mother of the young man questioned early on in the death of Katie Filiberti has reached the boiling point with Hyde Park Supervisor Tom Martino regarding recent comments he made attacking reports that two Hyde Park Police officers had been asked to submit DNA as part of the murder investigation.

The mercurial Martino used the term “bomb throwers” in reference to media and Internet speculation about the officers involved.

Can't say I blame her one bit. No one came out to defend her boy in any way when his name was being dragged through the mud all over town and all over the comment pages of a different local news publication. Even when asked directly if the young man was a suspect, police refused to answer, being as tight-lipped as they have been all along. Yet when doubt is cast over the Hyde Park Police Department, an official letter from the District Attorney's office is released to clear them, and the town supervisor calls the media and concerned townspeople "bomb throwers" for daring to question why two officers were asked to submit DNA samples as part of the investigation into the death of Katie Filiberti.

Where is the letter clearing the boyfriend Mr District Attorney? And Mr. Martino, how DARE you accuse the people of this community, and even the press as being instigators, for daring to ask questions about this case rather than giving answers the we should have been told without asking.

At the top of the list, why were two police officers taken in for DNA testing? Is the Chief conducting this investigation based on rumors and innuendo, or is he not? Or, for that matter, is the Chief even still conducting this investigation at all, or has another department taken over as the lead agency?

If the two officers in question were never suspects, then they should never been asked, nor should they have submitted to DNA testing. The notion that they were tested simply to put the public at ease over rumors is quite simply, ridiculous. If that had been the case, then the Chief would have made an official and timely statement explaining why this was being done, who the officers are and their part in the investigation, when exactly the officers were going to be tested, and when the results of the tests would be available. Furthermore, from that point forward he should have recused himself and his department, handing over the investigation to another agency.

The public hasn't heard a peep about the case, zero facts have been given all along, we don't even know if in fact the case is indeed a homicide thanks to the gag order placed on the Medical Examiner, yet when rumors begin swirling about the unprecedented fact that two officers were taken in for DNA testing we are called "bomb-throwers" and told the equivalent of "move along, nothing to see here."

It came down to a matter of interpretation really. If a civilian of taken in and forced to sumbit DNA, we would say that person had been arrested. But when a cop submits DNA, the terms does not apply. Granted, I was expecting, hoping for charges to be filed and the case to be resolved. Sadly, that has not happened yet. But the mystery as to why the case has not been solved is only more complex now than ever with what appears to be at the very least gross incompetence by police, the DA's office, and even a local newspaper.

My source was correct. My interpretation of the information was skewed by their urgency and tone. I also didn't see how someone could NOT be a suspect under those circumstances. I still don't understand that.

Mostly based on current published information, and how that information was made public. It's gone from checkers to chess.

Wow! For all of the crazy editing PoJo has done on their message boards, they haven't deleted this gem: (Name is actually written on PoJo) "Filiberti murder case : heard the same thing from many different sources. also heard they were suspended, has anybody seen them? also the DARE car has not been seen. has it been impounded since her DNA was found in it? she was supposedly seeing B_____, which would answer how her DNA got in the car. many questions, very few answers. makes it hard to rule some things out!!Posted by girlcooney"

And the response was: "the dare car has been repainted long before this happened and put back on the road as a regular patrol car....rumors are just that rumors"

Anyone know if this true?

Looks like the PoJo nazis are starting to slack. Or maybe they realize quicker than us that this case is dead...

Anonymous 2:18. Exactly what "real" case are you talking about?The case of the Blue Wall of Silence so thick that they won't even tell us for sure if this is even a homicide or not? They haven't said anything so when it's all over, they can make up any damn store they please, and there will be no record, no way to backtrack and catch them in a lie.

I don't know... definitely don't wanna get in a flame war in a thread dominated by very emotional locals.

but from an outsider perspective... from a guy who has zero respect for cops, this story comes across not as a crazy "blue wall of silence" but as a boring false rumor about started by people who are emotionally involved in the case. probably defending friends who might have been falsely accused.

Ya totally!! Live in a town were actual police corruption happens, and you begin to learn the difference. This case is a story of a hick-town and completely inept police department, combined with a shitty no resources, third rate newspaper trying to track down a moronic criminal.

Maybe if you added clown cars it could be more of a joke. Otherwise.... it is just sad.

What false rumor are you talking about 3:33? There is no false rumor. FACT: The officers were taken in for DNA testing. And one officer did have a relationship with the deceased according to the Chief of police himself. And speaking of the blue wall of silence, that is the ONLY information we have about the case, is the rumors that turned out to be true, OR misdirection by the police themselves.

We should have been told that two officers were taken in, BEFORE the rumors started. We should have been told that the investigation had been compromised by a personal relationship. We should have been told whether or not this is even a homicide.

There is an awful lot of suspicion, an awful lot of people fueling that suspicion by trying to give the impression they know more than they let on. I am sure a few people who really do know more than they are letting on.

Me personally, I really don't know what happened that night. Whether she was murdered, or died by accident, or I hate to even suggest, but maybe even suicide. I am not so sure that even the people who were closest to her really know for sure.

But I will say this much, the incompetence of not only this department, but also of the DA's office seems much more than a case of bungling Barney Fife's. The Dutchess County prosecutor's office is not some smalltime outfit. Hell, one of our prosecutors was G. Gordon Liddy, lead agent on the Watergate break-in. And the local Chief is a seasoned homicide investigator, not just the Johnny-come-lately needing something to do while retired that he may appear to be.

I realize you are from out of town, but your impression of the area is mistaken. This is not just some small town out in the middle of nowhere that has never seen organized crime, corruption at the highest levels.

Not sure if you realize it or not too, but Hyde Park is the home of the nation's first Presidential Library too, on the estate of Franklin D. Roosevelt. So yes, on the one hand this is a small town, but on the other hand, it is not an obscure hick town that no one has ever heard of where the locals sit around making sure the rain don't hurt the rhubarb.

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